2008 Summer Olympics

Oh my gosh............did anyone see the men's swimming relay last night? The US men barely edged out France for the gold. Another gold medal for Phelps!! They're calling it the greatest swimming relay of all-time. I was jumping up and down at the end, screaming under my breath because my kids were asleep. LOL!!! GO, GO, GO, GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was AMAZING!!
The women's gymnastics did well. The US gymnasts had a couple of bobbles, but at least they got the kinks out. I saw a wonderful story about a woman gymnast from Germany. She's 33 years old, and is competing in her 5th Olympics. Can you believe it? 33 years old and still able to compete at that level in gymnastics!!!!!!!!!!! I'm only 3 years older and couldn't even imagine doing that. LOL!! She has a young son who is in remission for leukemia. I watched her compete on the vault last night and she was great. She was so good, that she will be able to compete in the individual round on the vault, with a chance to win a medal. I hope that she does. What a wonderful story!! I love hearing about athletes from around the world.

I'm sorry I missed that! I haven't been watching---too busy getting my son ready for college!!---but I'm hoping to get some viewing in this week. I only care about swimming and gymnastics. That is quite the story about the 33 yr old gymnast Teresa! Makes me feel even more out of shape than ever!

Lily wrote:

How about Katie Hoff, OMG...I felt so heartbroken for her.

Who is she? My maiden name is Hoff...... :think:

Rhonda,
Katie Hoff is a 19 year old swimmer from Maryland.

Oh my gosh, she was sooooooooooo close to winning the gold last night. Did you see her mom in the crowd? 7 tenths of a second.....................

Bob Costas was saying that one of the French relay swimmers was quoted as saying that they were going to "smash the Americans," last night. Hmmm.......needless to say, he hasn't said much since. LOL!! I believe his last name is Bernard.

:alright:

What in the world is with the Rumanian Olympic Team? Is this some weird alternate reality?

Please bring back Octavian Belu because so far watching them just depresses me.

But add me to the list of folks who were on the edge of their seat last night cheering for that US swimming relay team. Fantastic! I literally yelled "Yeah!" at the finish... which probably woke some people up here at the hotel. But shame on them for not staying up to watch it!

Looking forward to tonight's events.

Anybody watch the US/China Basketball game this past weekend?

Yes, I watched the basketball game. The first quarter and a half were close, but then the US team pulled away. LOL, Jon!! I was yelling too last night during that relay, but as I said before, I was in whisper mode. It's just so exciting watching all of the events, isn't it? My 5 year old daughter could hardly wait until the women's gymnastics started. Her eyes totally lit up when she saw Shawn Johnson and Nastia. I even got tears in my eyes when I saw Shawn. It has to be so surreal for them. They train so incredibly hard.

I was watching some tonight and its news to me they have the pairs diving. You imagine the training that goes into that??

The pairs diving would be VERY difficult. So many of them are right on though. I guess that's what years of practice will get you. I'm excited to see Michael Phelps swim again tonight.

I am FREAKING OUT right now!!!!!!!!! The US men's gymnastic team is kickin' it into high gear tonight! They are doing soooooooo awesome! They would love to just win the silver, but they could actually win the gold. The Hamm brothers had to pull out right before the Olympics because of injuries, so it was looking a little bleak for them. But they are bringing it tonight!!
And then there's Michael Phelps! He just blows my mind. He is one of the most AMAZING athletes I have ever seen. By far the most amazing swimmer. Another gold medal tonight, and he's only half way done. He just finished 8 of his 17 events.
My goodness, I haven't been this excited since American Idol! LOL!!!!!!!!!!
I'm so excited to watch the women's gymnastic team tomorrow night!

Last night was definitely cool. The Chinese men on Rings were outstanding, which they make look ridiculously easy. Of course, they make just about every event look ridiculously easy, so it's always fun to watch them.

But the US was outstanding too... especially on High Bar. Up until the Pommel Horse, they were neck-and-neck with China, so it was a very exciting competition to watch and worthy of shouting at the screen. When you consider that the US team is made up of all Olympic newcomers as well as the last minute alternates, their winning a bronze is pretty impressive. I thought they really had a chance at Silver through most of last night, but Bronze is still an impressive feat. So who knows what next year holds, right?

In any case, it was great for the China team to win on their home turf. They definitely earned it.

Yeah, I thought the US men had the silver wrapped up, but they were so happy with the bronze, considering they weren't expected to medal at all. I was very proud of those guys. They put everything they had into their routines last night. The Chinese men did an awesome job!

I happened to see an Olympic sport being played this afternoon... and I have no idea what it was. It kind of resembled field hockey, with a net and goalie, but it was played indoors, and without sticks. The players run around with a ball that looks a little smaller than a volleyball, and dribble it occasionally, and try to get past the defenders and throw it into the opposing team's net.

I checked the official Olympics website and didn't see any sports that seemed to fit that description. Anybody know what it is?

Rob, I'm pretty sure that it's handball. It's listed as a sport in the Olympics, and they showed a small pic of it.

I'll be darned. I just checked out the handball pic on the Olympic site, and I do believe you're right. The only handball I was aware of was the one where you play with one opponent, and smack the little rubber ball off a wall with the palm of your hand.

Devastating.

Michael Phelps Did It!!!!!!!!!!!

(not that I ever doubted he would, but it's much more cool now that it's concrete and in the past)

As for gymnastics, this was definitely China's year for team competition! Very, very impressive, even with their minor hick-ups early on. I think the best point of the show was Jiang Yuyuan on floor. Reminded me of Moceanu's Floor Exercise from the 96 games, how she used charisma to steer the crowd and just made the whole routine look fun. Tonight's no doubt a good night to be a Chinese gymnastics fan! So congrats, China!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!! I'm so happy!!! Yay Nastia and Shawn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nastia was outstanding! Her Bars, her Beam, and her Floor were essentially pure grace and she certainly earned it. Like a lot of other people, I thought Johnson had the edge... but right after the second rotation it was pretty obvious Nastia was taking it home. She just had the right discipline, the right mindset, and simply seemed to want it more than anyone else out there. You could tell her father was certainly happy! And now the US has back-to-back All Around gold medals because of it... not to mention the silver Johnson picked up for herself. On China's side, I was very upset about Yuyuan's early fall... but quite impressed with her attitude in finishing the events. She really kept it together all the way through, which a few other athletes could certainly take some pointers from. And it was nice to see a Romanian coming close to the Individual All Around podium again... even if they did fall short.

The other thing from last night was the women's beach volleyball. That very close first set between the USA and Belgium (what an excellent team Belgium turned out to be to make the US women work harder than I've seen them this Games). But the second set was quick for the US, clearly having the momentum and having adapted to Belgium's strategy.

Great night of Olympics all around... much, much better than Wednesday night!

I was so excited for Nastia and Shawn last night!! I hope that Shawn is able to win at least one gold medal in the upcoming individual events. She certainly deserves it!!!! After the medal ceremony, Bob Costas said something like, "Shawn Johnson, the girl from Valley High School." LOL!! That was my high school, so it was funny to hear Bob say it on national TV.

I'm impressed you guys saw the gymnastics. I was trying but kept falling asleep. I did manage to see the floor exercise to see who the winner would be.

And how cool was it to see Mary Lou Retton in the stands and I'm not sure which one of the girls acknowledging her?

They said Nadia Comaneci was in the stands, too, though I was running around doing things & I didn't check to see if they showed her and Bela Caroli as a commentator?

I'm sure everyone knows that Nadia is married to fellow Olympic champion, Bart Connor. Hasn't he been one of the commentators for this Olympics and past ones, too?

Watching Bela's reactions to Nastia's routine was so cool!